Date A Live - Time Cease
by Reploid7
Summary: After more spirits begin to appear, Shido is forced to work himself ragged in order to save them, but there's something going on behind the scenes and Kurumi is at the center of it all. Currently on Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A Storm is Coming

Shido rolled out of bed and headed for the kitchen and started fixing breakfast. By the time he was finished, Tohka had emerged from her room. She seemed completely exhausted, but the very second she smelled food; she snapped out of her stupor and seated herself at the table. "Good morning, Tohka," Shido said with a smile.  
"Good morning, Shido!" She was obviously waiting for her food, because she was drooling all over the table. "Come on, Tohka, stop drooling like that."  
She closed her mouth immediately and waited for Shido to give her food. Shido placed her meal in front of her and went off into the hallway. He headed into Kotori's room in order to wake her up, but found that she was already gone.  
That's when he heard the noises. Sirens were blaring, signaling the coming of a spatial quake. Of course, Shido knew just what that meant:

Another spirit is coming.

Suddenly, he disappeared and reappeared in another room. He was transferred from his home to the Ratatoskr ship that his sister commands. He headed into the main room and looked down at the city and witnessed the spatial quake as it took its toll on the environment.  
"There's something different about this quake," Kotori muttered. Her second-in-command nodded his head. "This quake was bigger than any of the ones we've witnessed up to this point, but why is that?"  
Reine spoke up, "Probably because it was caused by two spirits that arrived simultaneously."  
Kotori ordered the crew to get visuals on the target. What came up were two separate spirits who looked similar to each other. One of them was a boy, the other was a girl. "That's quite abnormal," Reine commented, "Male spirits are pretty rare, but what's more mind racking is why he arrived together with a second spirit."  
Kotori grinned and looked to her. "It doesn't matter as long as we can have them dealt with. Now hurry up, big bro, we're gonna need you down there, ASAP."  
Shido was then immediately transferred in a ruined building out of the two spirits' sights.  
_Now remember to just act natural, Shido. We don't want them attacking you, right?  
_"Yeah, I got it." Shido stepped out and approached the two, only making it two steps closer to them when they turned to face him. They both looked to be around his age, with blonde hair and red eyes. The girl looked to be slightly irritated by his presence, while the boy seemed indifferent towards Shido.  
"Who the hell are you?" the girl demanded.  
"Uh, my name is Shido Itsuka, and you?"  
"Like we'd ever tell you that," she yelled. The boy placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hana, calm down, he's given his name to us, so it's only polite to give ours. My apologies, Shido, we'd be happy to give our names. My name is Arashi Dendo and the rude little girl is my sister Hana Dendo. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintanceship.  
"My god bro, you didn't need to do that for some human," Hana spat. Arashi bashed her in the top of the head with a closed fist before turning to Shido. "Now what business do you have here, Shido? It's dangerous to be around us."  
"That's exactly why I'm here!" he exclaimed. They focused their attention intently on Shido as he spoke those five words. "What do you mean by that? Are you supposed to be some sort of guardian? Or are you with those people that attack us?"  
"That's not it! I'm actually here to ask Hana, uh, if she would go on a date."  
The Dendo siblings were shocked by his sudden confession, which seemed to suggest that both of them knew more about the human world than most other spirits. If that's true than they're more than likely aware of what a date is. Hana laughed. "Why on earth would you want to date me, Shido?"  
Back at the ship, the crew looked at the screen as three choices appeared.

_You're just so beautiful, I couldn't help but ask!_

_I thought that it would be a nice way to get to know each other._

_For what reason do you think I'd ask you?_

"The choices are up there on the screen, people, so hurry up and make your choices!" Kotori shouted. The crew immediately went ahead. In moment, the numbers appeared. Number one got 38% of the votes, Number 2 got 50% of the votes and number three got 12% of the votes. "Now that I think about it, Number two really is a good choice. Alright big brother, go with number two!"  
"I thought it would be a great way to get to know each other!" Shido relayed.  
Hana grinned and turned to her brother. "Hear that brother? It seems this human has fallen for my looks and charm!"  
"Pride is very unbecoming of you, sister," Arashi responded. "If you want to go on a date, I don't mind. Although, Shido, I will have to have a place to stay so long as I and my sister are here, so would you be so kind as to allow me to make use of your house until further notice?"  
Shido was amazed by how polite Arashi was being towards him, unlike Hana. "I don't mind you using my house, but I gotta warn you that I have other guests there."  
"That's perfectly acceptable, Shido, I'm in your debt." Hana wrapped her arm around Shido and pulled him into a headlock that pressed his face against her breasts. "Alright, little Shido, I'll humor you. We'll go on a date. How's tomorrow sound?" She released him and reluctantly nodded his head.  
Shido led them to his house.  
Before they reached the house, an explosion caught their attention. They looked up and found a squad of AST units staring down at them. "Not again," Shido groaned. Hana laughed, "So I guess you're not at all new to Spirits and these mecha weirdoes, eh Shido? Don't worry, they can't do crap to us."  
Hana launched towards the AST, summoning a bolt-shaped lance. Sending electrical currents through every missile fired at her, causing them to prematurely detonate. "Come on, is that all you've got?" She swung her lance into the nearest AST soldier, drawing blood. "I guess even you cyborg knockoffs have red blood." Hana drop-kicked the soldier to the ground, knocking her out instantly. Shido ran over to her immediately. "Hey, don't you think that she's overdoing it a little, Arashi? Hana shouldn't be doing this."  
"If my sister is right and you do have an extensive history with spirits, then you should understand that this is how things are for us, who have nothing but our own lives, Shido. We're constantly assaulted, believed to be dangerous, but they just don't understand that we don't do it intentionally. Yet they still attack us and we must defend ourselves and if we hold back, however slight, it will be a mistake that we would never be able to take back. So we give it our all when we combat these individuals who seek to harm us. There's just no other way."  
"Yes there is, Arashi! You should know that you won't have to fight anymore if you let me help. Hana is right; you're not the first spirits I've met. I've met a number of spirits and I've managed to save them by sealing their powers. I can make you and Hana more or less human. I can make it so you can never harm anyone ever again."  
Arashi was no longer focusing on the battle. "Are you being entirely honest with me, Shido, because I will not tolerate a lie as serious as this?" He summoned a whip sword for emphasis. "I'm being totally honest with you! I can seal your powers and make things better for you. I can save you!"  
"Very well, Shido, I will believe you for now."  
By the time they had finished talking, the entire AST squad was taken down. They weren't dead, but they would need medical treatment.  
_Hey Shido, take out your earpiece and give it to Arashi so that I can speak to him. Go distract Hana so that she doesn't overhear Arashi talking to me.  
_Shido took his earpiece out and handed it to Arashi, telling him to put it in before heading off to talk to Hana.  
_Hello, Arashi Dendo, my name is Kotori, I'm Shido's little sister.  
_"It's a pleasure, ma'am."  
_I need to talk to you about what Shido has just discussed with you. From all of Shido's past experiences with other spirits, he's managed to seal the powers of most of them. The way he is able to do this is by making them fall in love with him and then, he seals their power by kissing them. However through his past experiences, there have been instances where a spirit would try too hard to fall for Shido or to get him to fall for them, so I would appreciate it if you didn't tell your sister about this.  
_"I promise I won't relay this information to Hana, but is that really how Shido does it? That explains why he asked my sister out on a date right out of the blue."  
_That's right, Arashi.  
_"Although I must say, this method poses a problem, Miss Kotori."  
_Why is that? What's the problem?  
_"I only find interest in women, you see, so it's very much impossible for me to fall for Shido. So sealing my own powers shouldn't be possible."  
_That's where you're wrong, Arashi. Ever since Shido made contact with you, we've been analyzing your persons in order to find the best way to seal both of your powers. I believe we have come to a conclusion. You and your sister have a form of link between each other that allows you to feed of each other's strength when you're weak. We may be able to utilize that in some way, but it may take some time.  
_"It makes me very happy to know that you're trying so hard to protect us, ma'am. I do hope that your research bears fruit."  
_That's my job. We're finished here, Arashi, so you can return the earpiece back to Shido.  
_Arashi removed the earpiece and casually bumped into Shido to cover the fact that he had slipped it into Shido's pocket. "Let us be off now, Shido."


	2. Kurumi Returns

Chapter 2

Kurumi Returns

The situation in the house was a disaster. Tohka was furious seeing Shido's head pressed against Hana's bust when they arrived. "Shido, what are you doing?"  
"I'm not in this position willingly, Tohka," Shido groaned. Hana grinned smugly at Shido. "What's wrong, Shido? Getting embarrassed? That's so adorable." She finally let go of him and he led her to the only guest room left in the house. "This is the only unoccupied room in the house Hana."  
"That's too bad. Arashi and I don't really sleep together, so this is a problem."  
Kotori watched them in the airship and grinned. "This is a perfect choice scenario." As always, three choices presented themselves in front of the crew.

_You can take my bedroom if you want, I can sleep on the couch._

_I'm sure you can share with Yoshino or Tohka._

_Why don't you sleep with me tonight?_

"The choices are right there, people!" Everyone began typing into the computer what their decisions were. Soon enough, the percentages came up. Number one got twenty-five votes, Number two got thirty-five votes and Number three got two votes.  
"I can understand one and two, but who the hell voted for number three? Was that you Kanazuchi?" The second-in-command faced Kotori seriously. "I won't deny that I voted for Number three, but it says that the choice has two votes, so who was the other voter?"  
One of the crew members raised her hand. "Well, if you recall, Hana came to the house with Shido pressed up against her bust, so she could be that kind of woman."  
Kotori considered this for a moment. "What's your name? I've never seen you on the Fraxinus before, so you must be new, right?" The woman smiled blissfully and replied, "That's correct, Commander, I am new to this. My name is Violet J. Roschev. I'm a foreigner, so I hope that any mistakes won't be held against me."  
"Well, Violet, I hate to turn down your decision, but I don't want to make a misstep, so we're going to have Shido go with Number 1, just to be safe." Violet nodded in agreement. "That's very fair, commander."  
Shido listened in and relayed the decision. "You can take my bedroom if you want, Hana and Arashi can take this guest bedroom. I don't mind sleeping on the couch."  
"Oh my, you're almost as well-mannered as my brother, Shido, but I can't just kick a person out of his own bedroom. Why don't we sleep together?"  
Violet giggled a bit as Hana said this. "I thought as much."  
Shido's face turned red and he took a few steps away from Hana. "N-n-no, I can't do that!" Hana laughed as his face turned redder. Arashi came forward and karate chopped her in the head. "OW! What the hell was that for brother?"  
"You're being far too indecent with this poor boy, sister."  
"You didn't have to hit me, Arashi!" Shido stepped away from the siblings before heading outside. "This is starting to remind me of Yuzuru and Kaguya," Shido muttered under his breath. Shido heard whistling in the distance. He couldn't see where it was coming from, but he decided against investigating.  
However, the one whistling had different plans. Shido was leaning against a balcony attached to his house. A hand sprouted up and pushed him off, falling forward toward the ground. However, he didn't hit the concrete someone caught him. When he opened his eyes, he found that he was being held up by Kurumi Tokisaki. "Hello Shido, glad I caught you. I wanted to talk to you for a moment."  
She gently set him down. Shido remained wary of her, though. Even though he swore to Kurumi and himself that he would save her, that didn't mean that he should let his guard down around her.  
"What do you want, Kurumi?" She smiled charmingly at him and replied, "I wanted to tell you that you're being watched and believe me, I'm not talking about myself, although I do enjoy seeing your cute face."  
"Who is it, Kurumi?" A hand emerged from the ground and ripped Shido's earpiece from his ear and gave it to Kurumi. "I'll tell you who's watching you if you promise to do something for me, Shido. Don't worry, it's nothing too dangerous for you."  
"Will I get my earpiece back from you, Kurumi?"  
"Maybe you will, but only if you promise." Shido looked back at his house, knowing that there were people back there that he cared for and if he's being watched that could be very bad for them. He took a deep breath and said, "Alright Kurumi, I promise to do whatever it is you want."  
She giggled. "If only I could hear that from you every day, Shido. The people that are watching you are DEM. That much should be obvious. Now for your promise, Shido, I want you to go on a date with me tomorrow."  
"Wait, are you being serious, Kurumi?"  
"I'm being completely serious, Shido. I thought I'd let myself relax a bit, besides, I haven't talked to you in so long, I missed you." She grabbed his arm and pressed her breasts against him. "As for your little earpiece, I promise to give it back after our date ends. It's indecent to have your little sister giving you instructions, don't you think?"  
Shido groaned exhaustedly and slowly nodded his head.  
Back up at the Fraxinus, Kotori smirked. "Well now, she's a clever one." Kannazuki looked down at Kotori with worry. "Are you sure we should allow this, Commander? It seems like this could be a trap laid out for Shido."  
"Don't worry about it. I'll have Yoshino and Tohka watch them from a distance. He won't be in any real danger if they're there to watch over him."  
"Now don't do that, little Kotori." Kotori jumped out of her seat as Kurumi leaned down and spoke those words. "How the hell did you get here?"  
"Don't worry about that. I'm just here to ask a favor from Shido's little sister. I want to ask you to not interfere with our date. I promise he won't be harmed."  
"Why should I trust you?"  
"Why would I tell him that he's being watched if I just plan on killing him? I'm keeping him safe until a better chance for me to eat him arrives. I know it's a gamble for you, but please don't interfere."  
"How do I know that you won't just kill him during your date then?"

"I already told Shido that DEM is watching him. They're most likely going to continue watching us while we're on our date. What's even more likely is the probability that that Mana girl will be watching us as well, so if I were to try anything, she would rush in and kill me again. That's enough for you to accept my request, right?"  
Kotori growled and thought in silence for a moment before finally giving in. "Fine, no one under my orders will be watching you, Kurumi. Go ahead and have your date, but let Shido know that he needs to reschedule an appointment when you get back. Without his earpiece, I can't exactly tell him myself."  
Back with Shido, Kurumi told him that they won't be watched by her sister or any of the spirits while they were on their date. "Your sister promised to leave us alone for our date. She also asked me to tell you to reschedule an appointment. Do you know what she's talking about?"  
Shido thought for a moment before he realized that Kurumi was talking about rescheduling his date with Hana. He stayed silent, refusing to answer her question.  
"Okay, I won't pry, but remember to meet me at the station tomorrow." Shido nodded and headed back to his house. Hana was on him in seconds. "Where'd you go, Shido?" Hana questioned.  
"I had to go out for a moment. Listen, Hana, I forgot that I was going to be busy tomorrow, so how about we push out date back to the day after tomorrow.  
"Are you hiding something from me?"  
"No, I'm not hiding anything, I swear! I just thought it would be better if we rescheduled our date!" Hana focused intently on Shido, but finally calmed down. "All right then, it's fine if we do it some other time."  
Later that night, Tohka and the others were told about Kurumi and Shido's date and told not to go following them. Defiant at first, Kotori managed to keep Tohka calm and collected and finally she relented.  
However, it wasn't the other spirits that they would have to be worried about.


	3. Future Problems

Chapter 3 – Future Problems

Shido made his way out of the house to meet up with Kurumi. It was hard to read her, but usually her reason for taking an interest wasn't a good thing. However, all the proof she presented against killing him made sense, so he decided to trust her just as long as their meeting lasted. That doesn't mean he wouldn't remain wary of her. He knows, after all the time he's spent with spirits, not to lower his guard.  
After reaching the station, he looked all over, for Kurumi, who was unsurprisingly easy to spot. Much like the last time they met on a date, she wore a black dress and only her right eye was visible with her bangs shielding her left. That was a good thing because it would be made evident that she wasn't human if people saw her left eye. It was gold and it took on the appearance of a clock that counted down her lifespan.  
She told Shido why she constantly killed others was to restore her lifespan as her Angel's power would deplete her lifespan whenever it was used. From that, Shido could understand why she would kill others, but nevertheless, she was still killing innocent people.  
"Hello, Shido. It's good to see you coming on time."  
Shido groaned and rubbed his face was there was a few bruises from earlier today. It was difficult getting out of the house, surprisingly. Hana was irritable when she woke up and Tohka was extremely grumpy and impatient with him. The only people in the house who treated him fairly were Yoshino and Arashi. Kotori, once again, had already made her way to the Fraxinus for work. Whenever Shido tried to leave, Tohka kept piling weapons of unknown origin into his arms, telling him to keep them hidden and close. Of course, he didn't bring a single weapon with him, which upset her greatly, but he wasn't going to bring weapons on a date.  
Kurumi led them to a café where they exchanged small talk for the most part. This date was going along much better than the last time he went on a date with Kurumi. At that time, he had a date with both Tohka and Origami at the same time as he had his date with her and he ended up having to juggle three girls until all hell broke loose.  
"So what's this about, Kurumi? Why did you ask me out here? You know that Mana might be watching us right this second. Why would you endanger yourself like this?"  
"Oh, Shido, you know as well as I do that she isn't going to go charging into public, guns blazing. The AST are supposed to be a secret. Even though she's your sister and that she's obviously not an AST anymore, we can't go revealing hidden secrets to the world, now can we? And despite what you might believe, unlike your little pop singer, I don't like the spotlight. I prefer to stay back stage. That being said, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. You are aware of my power over time, correct? I can stop time temporarily, I can turn back my own physical time to reclaim dismembered limbs. I can create clones of myself by way of going through all my past selves. I have so many ways to manipulate time, you must think to yourself, 'What if she could turn back time and go to the past?'"  
Shido had thought of that at one point, but was unsure if she really could do it. "So can you turn back time then?" Kurumi nodded with a smile. "Yes, but it takes up a lot of energy. Now that brings us to why I asked you out here. Have you ever heard of Jester?"  
"You mean like those medieval clowns that entertained kings?"  
"No, I'm talking about a spirit that goes by that code name." Another spirit is her reason for asking Shido to meet like this? As if reading his mind, Kurumi grabbed his arm and pressed it against her breasts. "Don't get me wrong, Shido, I wanted to tell you this, but I just couldn't help going on another lovely date with you," She purred.  
Shido attempted to wriggle his arm from her embrace, saying, "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"  
"Although I'm unsure of her current location, you should always be on your guard. Jester's power lies with the ability to create illusions powerful enough to fool even me. At this time, she's probably still posing as a human being to draw you all into a false sense of security."  
"That doesn't sound any more dangerous than dealing with other spirits." Kurumi chuckled. "Sure, sure, it sounds pretty much the same as if you were dealing with Tohka or Yoshino, but trust me when I tell you that this particular is ruthless. Much like myself, in fact. I think that about covers our little discussion, but I just need to tell you one thing. Don't die this time. I've already witnessed you and all of your friends be killed by Jester. Don't do it again."  
She talks of going back to the past, says that Shido died, and she tells him of a spirit he's never even heard of.  
"How far back did you go after I died? When did Jester attack us?" Shido asked.  
"About five days. I can't use up too much power, so I could only afford to go back a few days. Shido, if you ever need me, feel free to ask. I'll be sure to come and help. After all, I can't let your death come from anyone else's hands other than my own. Besides, even I can't fight Jester on my own. I need as much help as I can get."  
If Jester is as strong as Kurumi claims then it would certainly explain why she's acting this way.  
Before Shido could say anything more, the discussion was interrupted when a certain stoic girl noticed Shido hanging out with Nightmare.  
"Shido, what are you doing here with her?" Origami demanded, although it didn't sound like a demand considering how she spoke with an indifferent tone. He jolted out of his seat, nearly knocking the chair over. "Origami, what a coincidence, I didn't think I'd see you here," Shido responded nervously. Origami was an ex-AST soldier who deserted them during recent events. That doesn't mean that she isn't still prepared to fight a spirit, should the situation call for it. Hell, even if the situation DIDN'T call for it, she'd probably still pick a fight.  
"I asked you a question, Shido. What are you doing here with her? She's dangerous, don't you know that?"  
"You've got it all wrong, Origami. Kurumi just wanted to talk about a few things with…"  
Once again, he was interrupted. Kurumi came up from behind him and gave him a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're breaking my heart, Shido. I thought we were on date. I did ask you out on a date, after all. When I say 'date', I mean 'date'," Kurumi stated.  
Origami grabbed Shido's other arm and the two girls began to play tug-of-war with Shido as the rope. "Shido's my man, not yours, Tokisaki, now release him this instant," Origami ordered. "But Shido promised me a date and I know Shido would never break a promise," Kurumi replied.  
"Why does this always happen to me?" Shido thought helplessly.


	4. Monochrome

Chapter 4 – Monochrome

Shido was stuck getting tugged by his arms into two separate directions. With Origami pulling him to the right and Kurumi pulling him to the left, he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand it. "Stop pulling on my arms!"  
"Yeah, Kurumi, stop pulling his arm," Origami spat.  
"I will, if you will, Tobiichi," Kurumi replied.  
Shido groaned. Things would have been perfectly fine if he were just hanging out with Kurumi, but his luck has not improved one bit. Upon finding an arcade, Shido wrestled out of the two girls' grips and ran in. After running to a safe distance, Shido stopped to take a breather. That's when he heard the spatial quake alarms blare.  
Many people rushed to get away. To take shelter into safe houses and keep themselves safe, but the one thing that could activate the spatial quake alarms other than the appearance of spirits, was the people who made and managed them. Deus Ex Machina Industries.  
How Shido could possibly know it was DEM and not a spirit was simple, because he could feel someone place an AST blade against his throat.  
"Where is Princess?"  
Shido recognized the voice. How could he forget the voice of the woman who stabbed him from behind to get Tohka to go berserk? Ellen, DEM's best soldier, was threatening to end his life once again, but Shido was once shot in the heart and he still healed. As long as he had his sister's power of regeneration, he'd be safe.  
"Tohka's not here, so you're wasting your time, Ellen!" Shido shouted.  
"Are you certain? Tohka isn't the only one that Ike wants." That's right, he almost forgot. Back when Ellen had kidnapped Tohka and her mind became unstable, Shido found that DEM was also looking for him after he displayed the ability to utilize the powers of spirits when he himself is more or less human.  
Shido heard gunfire and managed to turn his head to find Kurumi with her guns and Origami with her armor. Unfortunately, ever since she deserted the AST, she hasn't been able to use anything other than a basic realizer.  
"Back away from Shido, Ellen, you won't be taking him away," Origami declared.  
"You really think you can intimidate me, Tobiichi? One spirit and ex-AST isn't going to make me let go of him and retreat when Ike asks something of me." Where all her loyalty towards Isaac comes from was a total mystery, but Shido knew that the chances of Kurumi and Origami taking down Ellen were low considering she's the most powerful Wizard among DEM.  
_Come, Zafkiel!  
Aleph_

A red mist seeped into the barrel of her guns as she pointed it at her head and pulled the trigger. She was gone the next minute. Ellen was kicked back away from Shido in a split second and Kurumi grabbed Shido and retreated. Clones of Kurumi began sprouting from the ground through her shadows.  
"Take care of her for me, me's," Kurumi said as she prepared her weapons.  
_Aleph  
_Holding Shido tightly, she used Zafkiel on herself and both her and Shido were gone.  
Ellen turned her attention to Origami as she picked herself off the ground, noticing that neither Kurumi nor Shido were in the area. "Now what do you plan to do, Tobiichi? You know you cannot fight me alone. Will you run?"  
"No she won't, because I'm here to back her up." Mana came down from the sky, landing next to Origami. "Let's make this quick, alright? I've got to get big brother out of that spirit's arms before something bad happens."

Kurumi and Shido reappeared in a theatre where a familiar voice sang to a non-existent crowd. "Why'd you bring me to Miku, Kurumi?"  
"I needed to put you in the hands of someone reliable. Unfortunately, I have business to attend to, so next time you and I go on a date, let's make it a real one," Kurumi said. Shido nodded his head and Kurumi used her Angel to make her leave.  
Shido looked down at the stage of the theatre, watching Miku Izayoi sing her heart out for seemingly no one. After the song ended, he watched her step off the stage and head to the dressing room. Shido followed after her and knocked on the closed door. When Miku answered, it only took her a few seconds to process who was in front of her and then quickly hug him. "I didn't expect to see you so soon, darling," she said.  
"Miku, there's something I need to talk to you about. Can we go somewhere else?" Miku was happy to oblige and ordered the bodyguards to step aside and let Shido pass.

Origami and Mana were holding their own very well against Ellen. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean they were getting anywhere. For the duration of the fight, Origami and Mana had only been able to defend against Ellen's attacks. She left no openings for them to take the offensive and strike. She wasn't called the strongest Wizard for nothing.  
Ellen fired off some missiles, but Origami fired at them, making most of them detonate prematurely, while she merely shielded herself against the rest. She hardly took any damage. The battle was exhausting them and if it dragged on without any progress, then both Mana and Origami would be kicking the bucket. That is, until Ellen nearly takes a round of buckshot to the face.  
She was barely able to shield herself from the gunfire, but it still delivered quite a bit of damage. Kurumi was back to help them. "What are you doing, coming back here?" Origami demanded. "Yeah, Nightmare, and where is my big brother?"  
"Now, now, you two don't lose your heads. I delivered Shido to one of his tamed spirits, so for now, he's safe. Now instead of giving me those nasty looks, why don't we focus on eliminating our main target?"  
Ellen had recovered from the initial shock and unsheathed Penndragon.  
All of the Kurumi Clones that she left behind returned to her, giving her back all the power she expended on making them. "Now let's see, how will you taste, I wonder. You look like you'd be quite a treat."  
Static could be faintly heard, however and Ellen got her new orders from Isaac.

_Ellen, retreat for now. It is pointless to continue fighting them unless they have our prize with them._

"I understand, sir, I will be there in a few moments." Ellen returned Penndragon and took off into the sky. "Now, if you two don't mind, I would appreciate it if you didn't kill me. You'll need me in a few days." With that, Kurumi vanished from their sight.  
"What does she mean by that?" Mana wondered.  
"I'm not sure, but we should probably go find Shido. She said she left him with one of the spirits he sealed, right?"  
Mana and Origami turned off their realizers and headed off to find Shido._  
_


End file.
